Blue Christmas: Mattel plunges on weak toy sales

NEW YORK — There must have been a lot of disappointed kids this Christmas. Toy maker Mattel reported lousy sales and profits for the fourth quarter, and the CEO specifically blamed a “significant U.S. toy category slowdown in the holiday period.”

Mattel’s overall sales fell 4% from a year ago, largely due to the fact that the company no longer sells toys tied to the Disney Princess franchise. Disney opted to move that line to Mattel rival Hasbro in 2014. The deal took effect last year.

The strong dollar was part of the problem for Mattel too. The greenback has soared since Donald Trump’s presidential victory. And multinational companies like Mattel are hurt by a strong dollar because it eats into profits from foreign sales.

But Mattel wasn’t just hit by exchange rates and the loss of Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel. The company said that sales of two of its most iconic franchises, Barbie and Fisher-Price, were also lower from a year ago. That’s a problem.

Mattel’s stock had soared last year on hopes that the company was turning things around